late apex
06-26-2008, 09:58 PM
From the Spokesman Review...
Judge OKs county track purchase
Bill Morlin
Staff writer
June 26, 2008
Spokane County will soon formally own Spokane Raceway Park, a shuttered racing complex in Airway Heights.
After five years of legal fights, Superior Court Judge Robert Austin on Thursday approved the results of an April auction in which Spokane County made the high bid of $4.3 million for the 200-acre racing site and 114 acres of adjoining land.
Four other bidders got the remaining 256 acres, offering a court-appointed receiver an additional $3.9 million.
After expenses and a $1 million hold-back for environmental cleanup, limited partners whose investments built the racing complex in the 1970s should see checks by the end of the year.
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The largest parcel purchased by the county encompasses a drag strip, oval track and road course that had been operated since the early 1970s as Spokane Raceway Park by a limited partnership, Washington Motorsports. The raceway closed in October 2007 after a third season of operation under the receiver.
The Spokane County commissioners, who initially said they wanted to open the track by mid-July with an interim operator, appear to have backed away from that timetable.
It remains in doubt whether the track will open at all this year as the county sorts through decisions about improvements, a company to operate the facility or doing nothing if legal appeals are filed over the sale.
County officials have said improvements were expected to top $500,000 this year and $300,000 next year. But others in the racing industry say actual costs for taxpayers could approach $2 million.
The judge also approved the sale of the remainder of the one-square-mile Washington Motorsports property to four other bidders.
Marlene Nixon was awarded ownership of two parcels of commercially-zoned land fronting on Hayford Road, immediately joining the Northern Quest casino, for $1,326,776. She bought a third parcel for an additional $81,306.
CPM Development Corp., affiliated with Central Pre-Mix concrete, bought two westernmost parcels containing a gravel pit for $1,640,232. George H. Lawrence III and Kelly D. Lawrence bought another frontage parcel for $387,530. Land investor Walter J. Knopp got ownership of three parcels for $406,855.
The receiver will move to close the real estate deals and begin steps to disperse the $8.2 million from the auction to unit holders, after expenses are paid and a $1 million escrow is set up for environmental cleanup at the site.
The judge approved the sale just hours after the Washington state Supreme Court refused to issue an emergency order blocking Thursday’s hearing.
“I am going to approve the sale,” Austin told his packed courtroom. His attendance at the auction convinced him “it was the highest and best price we could get. I wish it was more.”
Receiver Barry Davidson, who has controlled the racetrack limited partnership, Washington Motorsports, since 2005, said the court-sanctioned sale process has been under way for two years.
“People want this case over,” Davidson told the court, which appointed him to supervise the financial dismantling of Washington Motorsports.
Attorney John Giesa, who represents the receiver, told the court that three disgruntled limited partners – one of whom he described as a “straw-man” for deposed track operator Orville Moe – have no legal standing to object to the sale.
Seattle attorney Jerome Shulkin, who represents those partners, filed an emergency order Wednesday with the Supreme Court, contending Austin should have stepped aside because he attended the auction, creating an impression of bias.
A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court initially said Thursday Shulkin’s electronically filed legal motion hadn’t been received, but it was located later in the day by court staff. Supreme Court Commissioner Steven Goff denied the motion.
Shulkin flew to Spokane for the hearing, still hoping to get Austin to postpone his decision.
“Why are we selling now?” Shulkin asked the court. Considering depressed real estate prices, it would be more prudent for the receiver to hang onto to the land and hope for buyers willing to pay more, producing more return for “elderly shareholders.”
“This case started back in 2003,” the judge told Shulkin. “How long do you suggest we wait? How long should these elderly people wait?”
“Right now, they’re going to get zero dollars,” Shulkin predicted, referring to administrative costs of the receivership.
Giesa said if the racing complex remained in receivership, maintenance, security, insurance, property tax expenses and administration costs would continue to mount, with no income, while the actual value of the real estate could fall.
Unit holders in Washington Motorsports, Giesa said, “should actually recover some or all of the investments or more” by the time the receivership is concluded.
Judge OKs county track purchase
Bill Morlin
Staff writer
June 26, 2008
Spokane County will soon formally own Spokane Raceway Park, a shuttered racing complex in Airway Heights.
After five years of legal fights, Superior Court Judge Robert Austin on Thursday approved the results of an April auction in which Spokane County made the high bid of $4.3 million for the 200-acre racing site and 114 acres of adjoining land.
Four other bidders got the remaining 256 acres, offering a court-appointed receiver an additional $3.9 million.
After expenses and a $1 million hold-back for environmental cleanup, limited partners whose investments built the racing complex in the 1970s should see checks by the end of the year.
ADVERTISEMENT
The largest parcel purchased by the county encompasses a drag strip, oval track and road course that had been operated since the early 1970s as Spokane Raceway Park by a limited partnership, Washington Motorsports. The raceway closed in October 2007 after a third season of operation under the receiver.
The Spokane County commissioners, who initially said they wanted to open the track by mid-July with an interim operator, appear to have backed away from that timetable.
It remains in doubt whether the track will open at all this year as the county sorts through decisions about improvements, a company to operate the facility or doing nothing if legal appeals are filed over the sale.
County officials have said improvements were expected to top $500,000 this year and $300,000 next year. But others in the racing industry say actual costs for taxpayers could approach $2 million.
The judge also approved the sale of the remainder of the one-square-mile Washington Motorsports property to four other bidders.
Marlene Nixon was awarded ownership of two parcels of commercially-zoned land fronting on Hayford Road, immediately joining the Northern Quest casino, for $1,326,776. She bought a third parcel for an additional $81,306.
CPM Development Corp., affiliated with Central Pre-Mix concrete, bought two westernmost parcels containing a gravel pit for $1,640,232. George H. Lawrence III and Kelly D. Lawrence bought another frontage parcel for $387,530. Land investor Walter J. Knopp got ownership of three parcels for $406,855.
The receiver will move to close the real estate deals and begin steps to disperse the $8.2 million from the auction to unit holders, after expenses are paid and a $1 million escrow is set up for environmental cleanup at the site.
The judge approved the sale just hours after the Washington state Supreme Court refused to issue an emergency order blocking Thursday’s hearing.
“I am going to approve the sale,” Austin told his packed courtroom. His attendance at the auction convinced him “it was the highest and best price we could get. I wish it was more.”
Receiver Barry Davidson, who has controlled the racetrack limited partnership, Washington Motorsports, since 2005, said the court-sanctioned sale process has been under way for two years.
“People want this case over,” Davidson told the court, which appointed him to supervise the financial dismantling of Washington Motorsports.
Attorney John Giesa, who represents the receiver, told the court that three disgruntled limited partners – one of whom he described as a “straw-man” for deposed track operator Orville Moe – have no legal standing to object to the sale.
Seattle attorney Jerome Shulkin, who represents those partners, filed an emergency order Wednesday with the Supreme Court, contending Austin should have stepped aside because he attended the auction, creating an impression of bias.
A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court initially said Thursday Shulkin’s electronically filed legal motion hadn’t been received, but it was located later in the day by court staff. Supreme Court Commissioner Steven Goff denied the motion.
Shulkin flew to Spokane for the hearing, still hoping to get Austin to postpone his decision.
“Why are we selling now?” Shulkin asked the court. Considering depressed real estate prices, it would be more prudent for the receiver to hang onto to the land and hope for buyers willing to pay more, producing more return for “elderly shareholders.”
“This case started back in 2003,” the judge told Shulkin. “How long do you suggest we wait? How long should these elderly people wait?”
“Right now, they’re going to get zero dollars,” Shulkin predicted, referring to administrative costs of the receivership.
Giesa said if the racing complex remained in receivership, maintenance, security, insurance, property tax expenses and administration costs would continue to mount, with no income, while the actual value of the real estate could fall.
Unit holders in Washington Motorsports, Giesa said, “should actually recover some or all of the investments or more” by the time the receivership is concluded.